Development of Reliable TOPSIS Method Using Intuitionistic Z-Numbers

Technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) is a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) method which is developed based on the distance measure from the positive and negative ideal solutions. This paper extends the TOPSIS for handling data in form of intuitionistic Z-numbers (IZN). IZN consists of restriction and reliability components which are characterized by the intuitionistic fuzzy numbers. The distance measure between IZN is proposed using the convex compound of the distances for the restriction and reliability parts. The supplier selection problem in an automobile manufacturing company is adopted to illustrate the proposed model. Sensitivity analysis is performed for the validation of the proposed model and its result shows that the proposed model gives a consistent ranking of alternatives. The strength of the proposed model is the preservation of decision information in form of IZN which does not possess the conversion into regular fuzzy number to avoid the loss of information.